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Jewrusalem.net – Israeli Uncensored News
Here's a golden opportunity for the Feds to mend some political fences by jumping in with some timely disaster relief.
Posted at 2007-08-02 07:11:01 [PermaLink]If the feds want to mend fences with Newfoundland and Labrador, they should mend the fence--reverse the breaches to the Atlantic Accord in the recent budget.
Posted at 2007-08-02 08:02:11 [PermaLink]"Only in Newfoundland would you have a civic holiday dependent entirely on the weather"
LOL. I was in St John's once in early July and the Canada Day fireworks display at the harbour had to be postponed twice due to fog. They finally went ahead on July 3, despite the weather -- I guess they didn't want to end up inadvertently celebrating the Fourth of July!
Murray,
NFLD was given the option to:
a) Stick with the old system (The Atlantic Accord), thereby keeping all the money they can make.
or
b) Go with a new formula where they get more of other people's money.
As well as having this choice now, they can cherry pick the system to which they want to adhere on an annual basis.
Of course, Danny millions chooses what? We want both A and B. This, of course, creates a nice diversion from his botched attempts at negotiations with the exploration companies.
If the federal gov't coughs up some money would Premier Danny Williams continue talking about becoming a separate "nation". Good luck. After talking like that, he shouldn't expect anything.
Posted at 2007-08-02 10:20:36 [PermaLink]Rob, read the Accord and the inmplementing federal legislation.Giving an option still breaches teh accord b3ecause the accord requires the top up to apply to the equalization formula that applies at the time the calculation of the top-up is made.
If you had a lease that required the tenant to pay the taxes "at that time" you would certainly consider it a breach if the tenant only paid the taxes that were due under the tax system in effect during the first year of the lease and not the year in which the calculation is made. The federal position is absurd and directly conflicts with their own implementing legislation, which no one seemjs to have read. See section 4 of the 2005 Atlantic Accord and section 24 of the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador Additional Fiscal Equalization Offset Payments Act, S.C. 2005, c. 30, s. 85. It is obvious to anyione who reads it.
Murray,
I live and work in Alberta. Who do I look to for a top up? Please excuse me if the concept of making as much money as I can and looking for other people to give me more seems a somewhat foreign concept.
Currently, I'm putting together some cash to pay off my tax bill. If you like, I can send it directly to Newfoundland and then Quebec can just skim off what they want as it's passing through.
Rob,
I am not arguing that NL should have been given the deal they got in 2005. All I am saying is that it is plain to anyone who actually reads the Accord and the legislation that C-52 breaches the Accord. I was born and bred in Alberta and have never lived in teh Maritimes and have been a life-long supporter of the Tories since the PC youth convention in Calagry in 1974 (if memory serves). However, the current federal position appears so disingenuous, I really cannot support the federal Tories in the next election--I do not trust them.
Murray,
Certainly, I have also been disappointed by some of the actions of the CPC since they became the governing party. That disappointment is often tempered by the knowledge that, as in the Atlantic Accord situation, they have to deal with years of liberal social engineering and can only do so by remaining in power.
I sympathize with your current position but I have to wonder who you think you would be able to trust in the next federal election.
All of this bickering over how to divide the equalization spoils may be moot:
"Ontario could lose its 'have' status"
"Ontario is in danger of losing its status as a "have" province while Saskatchewan is set to overtake British Columbia in terms of economic rankings, says an analysis by economic forecaster Global Insight Canada."
"As a result, the forecaster said, Canada has gone from three "have" provinces in the early 1980s -- Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario -- to 1 "have" provinces, with Alberta representing the economic engine and Ontario only a fraction of its former self."
[External Link]
It seems the Ontario milk cow is drying up. Sorry to ruin anyone's day.
Rob, you got me. I am in a none-of-the-above dilemma.
The new equalization formula is based on national per capita average tax yield capability. If a province is well below the average, it gets equalization payments regardless of whether Ontario is above or below the average. Alberta and Saskatechewan will make up the difference caused by Ontario economic self-destruction (i.e., voting for McGuinty). Saskatchewan is reportedly challenging C-52 in court, but frankly I do not understand the foundation for their challenge, which would presumably be based on section 92A of the Constitution Act, 1867. Albertans are just more generous than other Canadians by nature (check out the charitable donations statistics).